Norway

There were 4,235,800 internet users in Norway (representing 90.9% of the population) in December 2009, according to Internet World Stats. This was up by 92.5% compared to 2000. (Internet World Stats, April 2010)

Ninety-one percent of the population have used the internet during the last three months; an increase from 89% in the previous year, according to the ICT in households, 2^nd quarter of 2009 by Statistics Norway. More men and more people with higher education use the internet every day. (Statistics Norway, September 2009)

The part of the population in Norway that has bought or ordered goods or services for private use over the internet during the last 12 months has increased to 70% compared with 63% the previous year, according to the ICT in households, 2^nd quarter of 2009 by Statistics Norway. There are only insignificant changes in the share of users for the different goods or services.

One out of ten Internet shoppers has experienced problems connected to this activity. Half of these have encountered technical problems with the website. Less than 2% of all internet shoppers have reported problems like delayed delivery, wrong or damaged goods delivered or attempted fraud.

About 70% of all internet shoppers refer to arguments indicating that this makes shopping easy and safe. Around 50% refer to lower prices and larger choice of goods or services. Half of those who didn't shop via the internet prefer to shop in person. One out of three has no need to shop on the internet. Three different arguments regarding safety concerns and lack of trust are referred to by 20% each. There is a tendency that younger persons are less concerned about safety issues than the older age groups.

86% of Norwegian internet traders have bought from national suppliers, 37% from EU countries and 20% from the rest of the world. (Statistics Norway, September 2009)

The number of fixed broadband subscriptions in Norway grew by 5% in the 4th quarter of 2009 compared to the 4^th quarter of 2008, according to Statistics Norway. The average broadband capacity for private subscriptions increased to 5.9 Mbit/s.

The number of broadband subscriptions with fixed access on the Norwegian mainland was 1,671,000 at the end of the 4th quarter of 2009; an increase of 83,000 subscriptions in the last 12 months. Compared to the previous quarter, there is an increase of 19,000 subscriptions. At the end of the 4th quarter, Norway had 1,517,000 fixed private broadband subscriptions and 154,000 business subscriptions.

The broadband penetration rate in private households increased to 71% from 70% in the last quarter. The figure for private broadband subscriptions per 100 households varies between 77% in the county of Sør-Trøndelag and 59% in the county of Finnmark. The most central municipalities have the highest number of broadband subscriptions relative to the number of households. While the number of broadband subscriptions relative to the number of households is 73%, the corresponding figure for less central municipalities is 61%.

In some municipalities the number of leisure time cottages is high compared to the number of ordinary households. As the number of fixed broadband subscriptions to these cottages increase the figure for subscriptions relative to the number of households may become extremely high. The municipality Bykle is the first to break the threshold of more than 1 subscription per household.

The mobile broadband access was removed because this part of the statistics is not complete and because these subscriptions cannot be distributed geographically and by download capacity in the same way as the fixed access subscriptions. (Statistics Norway, March 2010)